This special issue is devoted to papers from the meeting on Combinatorics, Probability and Computing, held at the Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut in Oberwolfach from 29 October 2006 to 4 November 2006. Like most conferences at Oberwolfach, this was an exciting and stimulating occasion; we were treated to numerous excellent talks, many of which provoked a great deal of interest and discussion among the participants.